In no specific order, these are my top five favorite movies of 2012.   Agree? Disagree? Did I miss the greatest movie ever?  Let me know.

1) Ted

This has to be the funniest movie I have seen since Borat.  Ballsy to so many degrees, this movie restored my faith in Seth McFarlane and proved he might have some chops as a director.  Standout scenes for me were Mark Wahlbergs memorization of the trailer trash names, the entire Flash Gordon sequence at the party, and the really creepy kidnapper who managed to add a true splash of horror to the film.

2) The Avengers

Shamelessly blockbuster.  A story that does nothing new.  I should have hated this movie, but the character development is just too… Damn…Good….  Standout scenes for me were any scene with Mark Ruffalo as Bruce Banner, Hawkeye shooting people without looking at them, and the Hulk punching Thor.  Read my full review here (http://ihogeek.com/2012/05/02/ihog-the-movies-the-avengers-spoiler-free/)

3) Django Unchained

Equal parts violent and hilarious, Django Unchained exceeded Quentin Tarantino’s point by tackling the tricky subject of slavery without tiptoeing around the ugly parts.  In fact he embraced all the ugly and elevated the film due to this.  He also managed to point out that racism could have happened from slaves themselves through one of the best characters seen on-screen in a long time (“Stephen”, Samuel L Jackson).  Standout scenes were any time Christoph Waltz was on-screen, a gunfight that rivals Scarface’s finale, and a group of racist marauders and their masks.

4) Prometheus

Filmed digitally and providing an aesthetic you can’t find anywhere except for a Ridley Scott film, Prometheus managed to be a prequel to the Aliens films and also be entirely unrelated.  Right?  Filling my quota for “sweet ass sci-fi stuff”, I adored every minute of it and was really sad when it ended.   Standout scenes were Michael Fassbender’s knockout performance as David, the acid-spewing cobras, and the awakening of the Promethean.

Read my full review here (http://ihogeek.com/2012/06/08/ihog-the-movies-prometheus/)

5) The Cabin in the Woods

This movie started off as a quick fix for my horror movie needs and then suddenly, it blew my mind.  The first half of the movie is an elaborate set up for one of the greatest pay offs in horror film history.  A love letter and parody at the same time, Cabin in the Woods brings the goods. Stand out scenes were the entire third act, a reference to The Evil Dead and the use of latin, and “pheromone gas” lol.

Read my full review here (http://ihogeek.com/2012/04/13/ihog-the-movies-cabin-in-the-woods/)

Next time I will share my personal worst five movies of 2012.